Dustin
by KaniShikamaru
Summary: CHAPTER 4! For some unknown reason, a few from the 21st century are catapulted into the Redwall universe. THIS IS NOT A MARY SUE.
1. Arriving

**_(PLEASE READ)_** Kani: What's up, y'all? I finally got around to writing a Redwall fic! Aren't you proud of me?! *crickets chirp* Never mind. This is merely a fic that's been bothering me for a while, and since I'm almost done with _Toxicity, _I thought I'd post it and see how you readers respond. But since I still have my other fics to work on...please don't expect frequent updates.

I _despise _Mary Sues!! So if this fic starts resembling one, tell me, please?

Thank you!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Redwall, but Brian Jacques already does. *glares in Jacques' direction jealously*

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_Wh__...what happened? _was the first thought that entered Dustin's mind as he opened his eyes. All around him, there was darkness. He tried to raise his head, but almost blacked out again with the effort. "Ow!" He reached up to touch his head with a shaking hand. "What the...?"

After several tries, he discovered that, if he shifted _very_ slowly and didn't make any sudden movements, he was able to sit up. Dustin clutched his head with aching hands; he knew that he'd hit it somehow. As his eyes became more accustomed to the darkness, he saw that it was merely nighttime...and that he was sitting in the midst of a dark wood.

_Weird...what happened to the apartment...? _he thought as he staggered to his feet. _What _is_ this place?!_

The boy gritted his teeth, and as he did so, he noticed the moon rising overhead. _Oh, good. Now I can see where I am. Probably in some park...but where are all the benches? Where's..._Julian?

Dustin scowled. For some reason, the trees seemed uncommonly huge...

"Oy!" came a brisk voice. "What have we here, Firelance?"

"Hm...dunno," mumbled a second voice. "Looks rather like a otter, Cap'n."

_"An_ otter, Firelance," the first voice corrected. "I think it's a mouse."

"Think it's one of 'em what lives in Redwall?"

"Tch. I hopes so," chimed in a third voice. "Them mice is meaner 'n' corks an' crabs, an' I got a score to settle wid one of 'em."

"Who's there!" Dustin shouted, spinning rapidly. The motion sent his brain on an unforgiving tornado of agony, and he fell to his hands and knees. Sharp laughter echoed from the shadows around him. Then a strange—_thing_—stepped from behind a nearby tree trunk. In the flickering light of the torch it held, Dustin glimpsed a strangely animal-like face.

"Who...wh..." The words didn't want to leave his mouth, and Dustin had to clench his teeth to make them form properly. "Who are you?" he muttered thickly. "The cops?"

"Cops?" The _thing _frowned. "'E's one of the mice of yer order back at Redwall, eh?"

"M-mice?" Dustin swallowed hard. He was beginning to suspect that he was not talking to the police. "There are mice around here?"

"Aye, or didn't you know?" A second creature joined the first. "Ain't you from Redwall?"

"Huh?"

"Doncha know what that is?"

"A red wall?" Dustin coughed as he slowly regained his feet. "I guess I don't. Do you...know...where my brother is?"

The face holding the torch sneered at him. The shadows laughed.

"Please!" Dustin took a step forward. "My little brother Julian...we were walking in the park. I think I hit my head—"

The shadows laughed harder. The face turned to its companion.

"Should I make 'im hit his head 'arder, Cap'n Swiftshot?"

"Na." The one called Swiftshot came to stand eye-to-eye with Dustin, and the boy nearly fainted dead away.

He was staring down the gimlet-eyes of a sparsely dressed, heavily armed..._weasel._

Dustin stumbled back several steps. "I-I'm dreaming," he gasped. "Must've hit my head harder than I thought."

"I don' think he's from Redwall," Swiftshot said to his companion without once taking his eyes from the boy. "He's not a mouse."

"Aye, what manner of beast are _you?" _questioned the torch-bearer, thrusting his torch into Dustin's face. The boy nearly choked on the smoke as he saw that the torch-bearer was none other than a burly rat.

"I'm a...I'm a..."

But the word would not pass his lips. The dark world tilted under him and the stars wheeled above. Dustin's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed.


	2. The Leverets

FYI: I modeled Julian after my little brother. ^_^ And, no, I don't live in Cherry Hill, NJ, but in someplace near there.

Thank you for the reviews!

Laburnum Steelfang: Cool! Thanks! One question though...what's IC?

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"I'm a human."

_"Bwahahahaha!!" _The twins Coral and Dawson nearly exploded with laughter.

"That ain't funny!" the little boy retorted. He had been wandering along the huge beach since last night and this morning—alternately crying from loneliness and fear, and running along the surf with the excitement of an explorer—and was feeling very irritable. "Don't you know what a human is?"

Collapsing to the sand, the hares kicked up their legs and laughed harder than ever.

"Yahaha! Oh...! Oh...hee hee, Dawson...didja hear wot he _said?!"_

"Whoo! D-did I! W...what manner of beast is human, eh?"

Tears began to fill the little boy's eyes. "It's not funny, y...you big bunnies!!"

Seeing that their mirth was not being appreciated, the hares straightened up, wiped tears of mirth from their eyes, and did their level best to keep straight faces. Dawson spoke first.

"I apologize," he said, fighting a grin from his face.

"Aye, me too," Coral added. "We got rather carried away. It's something of a habit among us leverets, doncha know."

"See, we've never seen a beast like you..." Dawson stepped forward, examining the boy closely. "Wot did you say you were again, eh?"

"I'm a human."

"Y'look more like a cross between a furless badger and a furless otter, excepting the tail, whiskers, and paws."

"And you look like a giant fat rabbit tryin' to wear clothes," the boy retorted.

"Got a name?" Coral asked.

The boy made a face. "I'm not s'posed to tell that to strangers."

Dawson crossed his arms. "Well, in its place, not talking to strangers is all well and good, but that's all you've been doing the past few minutes."

For some reason, that sent Coral into another helpless fit of giggles. Watching her, the boy was suddenly reminded of his own sibling, his big brother, who also laughed often. He sniffled, wondering where he was, and then plunked down on a sand dune and started crying for the umpteenth time since he'd found himself on the beach.

Dawson kicked at his sister and glared at her sternly. "Ahem!" he began, speaking only to the boy since Coral was still recovering. "It appears you're lost, m'dear human." Here his face twitched, but he did not smile. "Howzabout you come home with us, eh? Maybe Lord Apache'll be able to help you."

The boy looked up, dark, teary eyes distrusting. "I'm not s'posed to go with strangers."

"But..." Dawson quickly thought of something to change the boy's mind. Noon was fast approaching, and he didn't want to miss the midday meal. "Listen, y'little chap, I'll make a deal with ya. If you stay out here all night and the bally corsairs don't find ya, I promise to tell them that your out 'ere and that they're free to kidnap you onto their ships 'cos you told the Long Patrol that you didn't want our help."

"Dawson," Coral muttered testily in his ear.

"Corsairs?" The boy was interested. "What's that? Food?" As if on cue, his stomach growled loudly.

The hare continued, knowing that he was close to winning. "Ah, I see that you're hungry. W'll, food's somethin' them corsairs ain't goin' to give to a pore beas—I mean, _human _like you. They're mighty cruel beasts, rats and weasels, the lot of 'em! They'd rip your head from your neck sooner 'n' talk to you!"

The boy jumped to his feet. "Cool!" he exclaimed, albeit timidly. "Are they like pirates?" He was grinning slightly.

Dawson and Coral nearly exploded another time.

The child continued, "My big brother told me 'bout pirates. He said they were cool!"

"Cool?" The twins exchanged a puzzled glance. "They certainly see more hotheaded t'me," Dawson inserted.

"Hotheaded!" His troubles forgotten for the moment, the boy giggled. "You're funny, mister!"

"Nice to know that." Somewhat miffed, Dawson held out a paw to the child. _"Now_ do you want to come with us back to where we live?" A pause. "Plenty of food there, doncha know, and it's nearly time for lunch."

"Okay!" Taking the hare's paw, the boy skipped along the beach with his new friends. "Do you live on the beach, mister? What kind of—" He stopped to remember the word. "—beast are you?"

"Aye. We live inside of an extinct volcano." Dawson smiled. "Pretty exotic, wot?"

"And we're hares," Coral added helpfully.

"Hairs? _Hairs?! _Y-you're not _that _thin! I thought you were rabbits!" It was the boy's turn to burst out laughing.

****

"Whoa..." Goggle-eyed, the boy stared around him at the passages cunningly gouged into the mountain. "I thought you were lyin' when you said you lived in a mountain."

Coral pretended to be hurt. "Us? Lie? Never!"

A new voice spoke from behind them. _"I'll_ be the judge of _that," _it rumbled. The three friends spun, but the face looking down at them was kindly, if not tender.

Dawson relaxed visibly. "Oh! It's you, Milord Apache! I was just about to take this little—_human_—up to your forge t'see what you think of 'im, doncha know."

Lord Apache smiled as he caught sight of the boy, whose black eyes were even larger in his small face as he saw the great badger before him. "I'd first have to know what beast he is, Dawson," Apache reminded the hare.

"I'm a human," the child said. "A boy," he added.

The badger lord extended a paw. "And what is your name...boy?"

The boy shook hand-and-paw with Apache. "My name's Julian Blaine," he said, rather awed by the huge beast standing before him. "I'm from New Jersey." (**A/N: **So am I! Whoot! Whoot!)

"And I am Lord Apache of Salamandastron."

Julian snickered as he took back his hand. "Sala-what-now?!"

****

When Dustin awoke, he was sweating profusely; there was a thick, wet bandage around his head. He was wrapped in several dirty cloaks and lying close to something warm. He fully opened his eyes and saw that it was a fire. "Yeek!" Letting out a most unmanly yelp, the startled boy recoiled from the flames. One of the cloaks caught fire. "Whoa!" Dustin sprang to his feet, kicking the cloth into the fire.

"Hey! Now why didja 'ave to go an' burn me second best cloak, eh? Ye should watch where you're movin', brat!"

Looking up, Dustin recognized the irate Firelance. He sighed and frowned. "Why am I still here...?" he mumbled half to himself.

Firelance was carefully feeding wood chips to the campfire's flames. "Because Cap'n Swiftshot di'n't want you killed, that's why." His voice shook with barely controlled rage. "Ye've got 'im to thank fer that. He even had Crossclaw put that poultice on yer head wound! If it had been up to me, I'd've sent you back to them Redwallers _without_ yer measly head!" He added in a quieter voice, "He thinks you're summat exotic."

The rat's harsh talk grated in Dustin's nerves. For some reason, his head didn't hurt, but to take his mind off Firelance, he looked around him.

He was standing in what seemed to be the center of the camp in a small clearing. All around him, ferrets, rats, weasels, stoats, and one or two foxes went about their businesses of setting up tents, standing watch, bringing in foraged food...and arguing about most of it. The sun was high and burning in the sky—_About __noon__, _he noted—and the trees still seemed oversized. Dustin had just discovered how large an ant was up close.

The boy winced. _Animals walking, wearing clothes and _talking, _of all things! I think I hit my head too hard and I'm still in the hospital... _He moved to pinch himself, but before he could a sharp kick to the small of his back made him gasp in pain.

"Move yer paws, if ye have any," Firelance growled. "The Cap'n says he wants to see you."

Inside Captain Swiftshot's tent, the air was mercifully cool. As Dustin stumbled in, Firelance's forceful paws shoving him on, the captain was sitting at a low table before his cot, writing with a reed pen. On one side of the table stood two agile-looking ferrets. Seeing the two newcomers, he set down the pen and motioned Firelance and Dustin to him.

The boy came, but warily. He was still confused as to where he was, which made it hard to think, and Swiftshot's eyes—the way they over-scrutinized him—made him want to scream to loosen the tension.

After several minutes, the captain finally spoke.

"I see that Crossclaw dressed your head wound with the mud poultice," he noted.

"Wha—?" Dustin's fingers went to his head. Yes, the thick bandage was still there...and a smearing of mud through it all. He winced, but made no attempt to remove the bandage, admitting to himself that it felt good. _Disgusting._

"Here." The weasel took up a goblet from his table and extended it towards the boy. "You must be thirsty."

Dustin recoiled automatically. "It's poison," he muttered.

Swiftshot chuckled. "No, of course not. Why would I poison you? Now drink! Several of my crew are preparing something to eat."

The boy remembered how thirsty he was, but shook his head. "No thanks." The captain analyzed him for a while longer.

"What is your name?" Swiftshot asked at last.

"Dustin Blaine," the boy replied.

The captain went back to examining him. Dustin wanted to sink through the tent's rush-woven floor.

"And what manner of beast are you?" Swiftshot suddenly said. It wasn't a demand; his words seemed more like a _command._ Under less dangerous circumstances, Dustin would have laughed if he had known that those words were almost the same words that Dawson had spoken to his brother Julian nearly an hour ago.

_Julian... _Thinking of his brother reminded Dustin of the place from whence he'd come. "Is this some kind of early Halloween joke?" he demanded, ignoring Swiftshot's question and taking a step forward. The ferrets moved also. "How much are you gettin' paid for this?"__

Swiftshot raised an eyebrow as he got to his feet. "I think _you're _the one playing the joke," he retorted. "Tell me, are you a spy from the Redwallers in some bad costume, sent to watch me 'n' my crew? And if you are—and I'm asking you nicely—is there a way that we can get in without their knowing?"

Dustin crossed his arms, his bandage forgotten. He knew that there were several people in his neighborhood who would take a joke as far as these people seemed to be, but he wasn't sure...

"I told you last night that I didn't know what Redwall was!" he growled.

"Aye, so did the last mouse we found," Swiftshot replied levelly. "Want to know what happened to him?"

Before Dustin could answer, Swiftshot pointed to a bag on the floor. "Open it," he said. When Dustin hesitated, the two ferrets grabbed him roughly by the arms and forced him down. Once on his knees, the boy reluctantly reached for the bag.

Behind him, Firelance snickered.

Imagining all kinds of ghastly surprises in the bag—live snakes, skeletons, a history book—Dustin was completely unprepared to open it and find...

He froze.

He jumped back with a choked gasp.

In the bag was the bloated corpse of a mouse. Dustin wanted to throw up. The face was recognizable to the extent that he saw how frightened the small beast had been.

"I drowned him," Swiftshot said grimly.

_Sick._

He took several deep breaths to steady his stomach and licked his dry lips. Looking up at Swiftshot, the boy saw that he was smirking knowingly, as were the ferrets and Firelance.

_"Now_ do you think I'm joking?" the captain asked.

"N-no." Unable to tear his eyes from the revolting sight, Dustin swallowed hard. "But I'm telling the truth! I don't know about this Redwall. I don't know about anything else! I don't even know where I am!"

"You are in Mossflower Wood," Swiftshot answered, closing the bag around the mouse remains. "But if you're not from Redwall, then where _are_ you from?"

"Cherry Hill, New Jersey," Dustin finally looked up. "In the United States."

The ferrets burst out laughing. "New Jersey?" they hooted. "United States? Cherry _Hill__?_ Firelance, d'ye know of any hills of cherries around 'ere?!"

Looking pleased, Firelance glowered at Dustin, who transferred his own gaze to the floor. Captain Swiftshot got to his paws and darted around the table so he was facing the boy.

"All right, then," he sneered, his good humor gone since Dustin hadn't "admitted" that he was from Redwall. "I gave you a chance to tell me the truth, but it's too late now. So we'll leave. We'll take you back to my ship and you'll be the first of the oarslaves."

"Oarslaves?" Dustin was alarmed.

"Aye." The weasel's foul breath blasted in his face. "Take my word for it, whatever-you-are, being an oarslave under me is worse than that mouse got!"

Dustin didn't reply.

Swiftshot knew he'd gotten his point across. His voice returned to its usual calmness as he turned to speak to the ferrets. "Jadin, Twomark, take this brat outside and tie him to the nearest tree. Guard him closely. If he so much as...as _breathes_ too loud for your liking, beat him, understand?"

The ferrets touched their right paws to their left shoulders and bowed. "Yes, Cap'n," they replied together.

Four sinewy paws grabbed the boy's arms and began dragging him out.

"Firelance," Dustin heard Swiftshot say to the rat. "Tell the crew to be ready to leave at dawn."


	3. The Attack

**Sorry I didn't update. I'm just lazy that way.**

**Thank you, reviewers, for supporting this fic!!**

* * *

Dustin's mind was racing as the two ferrets tied him to the tree.

_No...I can't stay here...I have to find Julian...what if these guys got him...? No! They couldn't have..._

One of the ferrets gave the ropes a pinching tug and the boy winced. Nodding in satisfaction, the ferrets sat on either side of their prisoner, silently daring him to make a sound.

Tears of anger and pain stung Dustin's eyes. He kept thinking of the mouse corpse, wondering if it had been something like him, wondering what it had done to anger Swiftshot...but most of all, he wondered if his brother was all right, if he had also been thrown into this mysterious world.

Time passed. Most of the vermin camp was sent to scout the best route back to their ship, or so Dustin heard, and the rest stayed as sentries. Dustin became acutely aware of the fact that he hadn't eaten or drunk anything since before last night. The ropes binding him to the tree seemed to want to make him part of the tree itself; whenever he tried to move, the bark dug into his back. He was bored and tired and hungry; he started noticing the most insignificant things.

_Jadin and Twomark aren't identical, _he thought._ Jadin has a scar across his forehead and Twomark has bandages on his left hand._

"This is ridiculous!" he murmured, unable to keep quiet any longer. "Where am I? Who's paying you to do this to me? What did I _do,_ anyway? I told you I don't know what Redwall is!"

"Shuttup!" One of the ferrets—Jadin—leaped up and struck his face with a firm paw. Clenching his jaw shut, Dustin refused to cry out. He had been beaten up by several school bullies before his family had moved to New Jersey, so he knew full well how to take pain.

He also knew how to stop it.

"You hit like a girl," the boy snapped.

The ferret twins looked at him at the same moment. "What's a girl?" Twomark demanded.

Apparently, they weren't intent on doing exactly what Swiftshot had told them to do.

"Where I come from, it's the opposite of what I am," Dustin replied.

"That must be a good thing, then," Jadin snorted.

Twomark was slightly more suspicious. "Does that mean that a girl is a beast like us? Or is it like you?"

"He just _said _it was the opposite of him, Twomark," said Jadin. "And the opposite of this..._brat_...must be a beast like us!"

"I wish," Dustin muttered faintly. "Look, while you're arguing—"

The ferret twins glared at him. Jadin punched him again. "Shuttup, I said!"

"Listen..." Dustin twisted his hand so that it could reach into his pocket. He pulled out all his money. "I got...fifteen bucks. Fifteen bucks! Will you let me go for that?"

"'Bucks'?" Twomark snatched the three five dollar bills from the boy's hand. He squinted at it. "What's this, eh?"

"Lemme see!" Jadin grabbed the money and sniffed it. He wrinkled his nosetip. "Smelly parchment...is _this_ your _money?"_

"Yes!" Dustin clenched his fists. "It's all I have! Will you take it and let me go?"

The ferrets scoffed in unison. "Where you come from, beasts must be daft," Jadin said. "Money is gold an' silver, not _parchment!" _With the last word, he crumpled the dollars together and tossed them into the fire.

Dustin was so shocked at this that he couldn't speak.

The rest of the day was a clutter of pain, arguments, beatings, insult-hurling, exhaustion, and more things that Dustin was too hungry and tired to think about. He never remembered how he managed to sleep that night. He could only recall awakening with painfully stiff muscles and a bone-dry mouth. The places where Jadin had hit him on his face were swelling, he could feel it.

Firelance was standing before him. Dustin could barely resist the urge to spit at him...but his mouth was dry. The rat turned to the ferrets. "Untie him from the tree but bind his hands. Cap'n's ready to go."

The twins bowed. "Yessir."

Dustin shut his eyes and bowed his head. _If there is a God..._

* * *

"So, milord," Coral said. "What d'you make of him?"

Julian, Coral, and Dawson were standing together by Lord Apache's forge. Julian's eyes grew bigger and bigger as he watched the badger hammer a chunk of metal to spear-point thinness.

"How does he _do _that?" he whispered to Dawson, who elbowed him back into silence.

"Has Julian been any trouble?" Apache asked, thrusting the spear into a low vat of water.

"No, sah!" Coral answered.

"Chap's quite entertaining, doncha see," Dawson added.

"Just so long as he doesn't interfere with your duties as a member of the Long Patrol." The badger nodded. "Good. If you have nothing further to report, you are dismissed."

"Yes, sah!" The twins and Julian turned to leave.

"Wait, Dawson," Lord Apache said suddenly. "I need to have a word with you."

Dawson closed the door after the others. "Yes, milord?"

"Stand at attention!"

"Sah!" The leveret stood stiffly as Apache set his mallet aside and continued.

"Tell me the truth, Dawson," said he. "Do you think he is some species of vermin?"

"No, sah!" the hare exclaimed. "I could vouch for his being on our side any day of the season, aye, any day!"

The badger lord nodded. "That's good. But keep an eye on him. Once, when a badger lord let down his guard and allowed a vermin into this mountain, a host of bad things began to happen."

"May I ask what vermin it was, milord?"

"May I ask why you don't remember what you were taught about this?"

Dawson bowed, feeling an embarrassed flush creeping into his face. "I'm sorry, sah." A long pause. "Am I dismissed?"

Apache sighed as he turned back to his work. "One thing you still need to learn as a Salamandastron hare, Dawson. Silence. You do not ask me to be dismissed. I dismiss you when I wish."

Properly chastened, Dawson nodded and understood. "Yes, milord."

"And you are now dismissed."

"I still don't understand where you're from, Julian."

Julian, Coral, and Dawson huddled around a window overlooking the beach, watching the waves rise and fall. Just above the horizon, the sun was about to set, dyeing the water a soft reddish hue.

Although many of the Long Patrol hares were still rather curious of Julian, they all agreed that he would bring them no harm. He acted innocent as a leveret, one said. Besides, Julian could eat as much as anybeast hares in Salamandastron, a feat which had immediately won him the hares' respect.

"I told you." Julian leaned forward. "I'm from New Jersey."

"Do they have hares there?" Dawson demanded. "And is that place anything like this?"

Julian thought a moment before replying, "No. I don' think so."

Dawson scoffed. "Pity."

"How old are you?" Coral asked next.

"Umm..." Julian narrowed his eyes as he counted on his fingers. "I'm seven, I think. Seven years old."

"_Years?!"_ the siblings exclaimed together.

"What's that in relation to seasons, eh?" Dawson scooped up a rock and flung it towards the sea. It landed almost five pawlengths from the waves. "Ha! Beat that!"

Coral sighed. "I wouldn't even try, brother, you've got the best throwing arm of anyone around." Dawson looked as if he'd burst with pride.

"I dunno how long a season is," Julian was saying.

"Me neither, little chap."

"If a certain hare remembered his lessons, then maybe he could," Coral teased. Dawson hung his head as she turned to Julian. "A season is about three moons."

Julian clenched his fists. "How long's a moon?"

The twins exchanged glances. "I don't know," Dawson said finally. "Maybe I should have a chat with my teacher and ask him, eh?"

The three stayed by the window for a while longer before being called to bed.

* * *

"My crew!" Captain Swiftshot called from the front of the group. "We'll rest here tonight!"

With groans of relief, the vermin threw off their packs and dropped to the ground. Some of the more adventurous ones slinked off to do some foraging, but the rest went straight to sleep. Firelance tied Dustin to the tree nearest to where the captain decided to rest, and then went to confer with Swiftshot.

"I don't particularly like the looks of these trees," the captain told him quietly, but loud enough for Dustin to hear.

"I hope y'don't mind me askin'," the rat began nervously, "but why are we stoppin' 'ere, then?"

Swiftshot ignored him. "Post lookouts around the entire camp, and tell them that if they fall asleep, I will skin them alive."

His words, full of cold certainty, made Dustin shiver.

Firelance also shivered. "Y-yes, sir, I'll get right on it.

Gradually, as the night went on, the vermin camp fell asleep. Dustin stayed awake between the dozing Twomark and Jadin, wracking his brain for an escape plan. In all truth, the boy was too scared to try any of his ideas.

_I just wanna go home..._ he thought, then chided himself for sounding so childish.

Tightly as he was bound, Dustin found the night sounds strangely lulling. His eyes drifted closed, and he would have fallen asleep...

"_Attack!"_ came a bellowing command.

Dustin almost had a heart attack as the woods came alive with countless shrieking forms. All around him, Swiftshot's crew was stirring themselves into action.

"All rats to the camp boundaries!" Firelance ordered. "The captain needs you in a full circle. The rest o' ye, string those bows! Move it, ye sorry excuses for pond scum!"

"Firelance, it's that spikehog gang we hit a few days ago!" exclaimed a small rat nearby as he drew his dagger. Dustin stared in shock as a huge club smashed into the rat's neck. The vermin fell backwards, dieing without knowing what had hit him. Dustin swallowed hard and looked away. His heart and head were pounding furiously.

Animals that he recognized as giant hedgehogs were charging the camp from all sides. They were throwing clubs, slingstones, arrows, anything that was within paw's-reach of them.

"Surround the prisoner!" Captain Swiftshot's voice carried clearly over the confusion. "Jadin, Twomark, don't let them free him!"

The ferret twins hastened to obey, nocking arrows to their bows as they did so. Suddenly, a huge missile—a club—crashed through the trees. It had been thrown so skillfully that it connected with both ferrets' heads. Before Dustin could react, another club whacked him over the head.


	4. Meeting Up

**Kani: Sorry for taking so long! I kinda lost interest in this fic. But I just finished reading _The Ribbajack and Other Curious Yarns_...and I'm back!**

* * *

The first thing Dustin Blaine was aware of was talking, talking, incessant talking. After several minutes, he deduced that the speakers had European-sounding accents...which was strange. Did he know anyone who talked like that in New Jersey?

It took him a while to realize what they were saying.

The rasping voice seemed to be speaking the most. "I foun' him...her...uh, _it_ alone near the River Moss last night...not sure wot t'make of it. Gaila?"

"I think we should keep it until we know whether it's a vermin or not," suggested a female voice. "It's not like Redwallers to turn out helpless beasts...things..._beings."_

A firmer male voice broke in. "This one strongly resembles the other two the shrews found a few days ago...what did they call themselves?"

"Horans?" ventured the rasping voice.

"Humans," the female voice corrected. "But I—"

Dustin stirred.

"Wait a moment. He's coming 'round."

Dustin opened his eyes.

Faces! Furry faces! Three twitching furry rodent faces looking down at him from the sky...

He instantly recoiled and tried to struggle.

"Hold on, calm down..._human."_ Huge paws held him down. "We're not going to hurt you."

Realizing that he had a splitting headache, Dustin lay still. He clenched his teeth, remembering last night. "Y-you with that Swiftshot guy?" he questioned harshly. "Or are you those spikehogs that almost took my head off?!"

The three rodent faces turned from him to each other. "Swiftshot?" repeated the rasping voice, which belonged to the animal that made Dustin think of a thin seal. _"He's_ in the area?"

"N-never mind."

"What's your name?" asked the female voice.

Dustin shot a look in its direction. He recoiled instinctively. "A skunk!"

"Skunk?!" the three demanded together.

The boy was feeling decidedly awkward. "Never mind..."

The firm voice's owner now spoke. "What is your name...uh..._son?"_

"Dustin Blaine. I'm a human boy, in case you still don't know."

"I'm Abbot Cadwall," the rodent—which Dustin decided must be a mouse—replied.

"I'm Gaila," said the "skunk." "And I am a _badger."_

Dustin turned bright red.

"And," added the raspy-voiced slim seal, "I am Skipper of Otters."

"Oh." _Scratch the slim seal part..._ An uncomfortable silence reigned. Dustin shifted slightly. "When I woke up, I heard you...talking about 'two others.' Who are they?"

Gaila shrugged helplessly. "The shrews found them wandering in the woods, almost starved to death. When they came here and recovered somewhat, they kept saying they were..._humans._ And those names...Trina Jamison and Keanu Calloway, I think. So very..._odd."_ She frowned at the look on Dustin's face. "What's wrong?"

_Trina and Keanu...I know those names!_ Forgetting his bad headache and repulsion of "skunks," Dustin leaned urgently towards Gaila. "Can...can I see them?"

* * *

The hare Cuan was Dawson's teacher. He was a rather thin hare, but what he lacked in muscle he more than made up for in knowledge and battle skill. At the moment, he was in his room (with the belt full of daggers he never went without), copying from an old parchment when Dawson came bounding in.

"Mornin', little Cuan!"

"Dawson!" The older hare almost shot out of his chair. "I've told you time and again that my door is closed for a reason. _Knock_ before you enter, and enter quietly, wot! And the next time you call me little, I'll write you up for insubordination and send you to Lieutenant for kitchen duty, mark me words, I will!"

Dawson smiled and saluted. "Yessir, little Cuan." He nimbly dodged the dagger that Cuan threw his way.

"Off to the kitchens with ye! I want to see those pots and pans scoured mirror-clean after breakfast, ho yes, I do!"

The leveret wasn't dismayed in the least. "I'll attend to those pots presently, Cuan," he said. "But first, I wanted to know how long a moon is."

Cuan slammed down his reed pen. "I've told all you leverets that before in your classes, wot!" he said, sounding mildly annoyed. "A moon is just about thirty days. Why do you ask?"

"That little horan...er, h-human Julian said he's seven years old, and then he said he doesn't know how long a season is, and then Coral said a season's about three moons, and then Julian said he doesn't know how long a moon is, and so I says to him, 'I'll have a chat with my teacher an' ask him.'"

Cuan let out a short chuckle. "Well, now you know. So kindly take yourself down to the kitchens and get on those pots!"

* * *

Dustin's eyes widened as he saw the two humans being escorted into his room by two otters and a shrew. "Keanu! Trina!"

"Dustin!" exclaimed Keanu, starting forward. "Trina and I saw the shrews take you in here, but they wouldn't let us see you. Did they hurt you or something...?"

"Hoi!" The shrew stepped before Keanu, jabbing a tiny paw at the boy's stomach. "Stay back until we say you can approach!"

Trina spoke up. "I don't understand...what's going on?"

The shrew unsheathed his rapier and waved it threateningly under Trina's nose. "You will speak when spoken to!"

"Log-a-Log Aidan, please." Abbot Cadwall raised his hands. "They have caused us no harm, so we should cause them none."

Skipper of Otters and Gaila voiced their agreement.

Log-a-Log Aidan looked from Trina to Keanu to Dustin, his beady eyes brimming with distrust. Then with a loud "Hmph!" he stalked off, the two otters right behind him.

"Don't mind Log-a-Log," Skipper said when they'd gone. "He doesn't trust easily, but when he does, you couldn't want for a more loyal friend."

Trina shivered as she sat on the edge of Dustin's bed. "So you're not sending us back?" She tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear, her voice panicked. "W-we're going to be stuck here?!"

"I've told you already," replied the abbot. "We don't know how you and your friends got here, so we have no way of knowing how to 'send you back!'"

"B-but..." Trina sniffed. "I-I want to go home...I want to sleep in a bed and eat cheeseburgers and go to school and get teased by Allen Wesley there and...and—" She broke down and cried. Keanu and Dustin exchanged uneasy looks, but it was Cadwall who moved first.

"There, there," he said awkwardly. "If you found a way to get here, you can find a way to get back." He put a paw around Trina's shoulders, and the girl recoiled instantly.

"Eww! Get off me, you rodent!"

"Trina..." Keanu sighed as the abbot drew back.

Dustin frowned. "So you're _not _with Swiftshot?" he demanded.

That got Skipper's attention instantly. "You mentioned that vermin before; how do you know about him?"

"That's a long story..." Dustin shook his head.


End file.
